Wolf's troubling season continues

Left-hander Randy Wolf’s troubling season continued Wednesday night with a bombs-away performance against the Cubs, who tattooed him for five home runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 9-4 victory at Miller Park.

Wolf allowed two home runs apiece to Cubs centerfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher Geovany Soto. He was driven from the game in a three-homer barrage in the fifth inning, including a two-run shot by Derrek Lee on a hanging curveball and the second blasts of the night by Byrd and Soto.

After surrendering 24 home runs in 34 starts last season, Wolf has been tagged for 15 in 13 starts in 2010. He fell to 4-6 with a 5.31 earned run average, and the Brewers are 5-8 in his starts.

“He hasn’t given us a chance to win that many games when he has started,” said manager Ken Macha.

“If you’re going to get out of this hole we’ve dug and get back into it, you’re going to need consistent starting pitching. Obviously, we didn’t get that today.”

This is not what the Brewers had in mind when they signed Wolf to a three-year, $29.75 million free-agent deal over the winter. Having just absorbed $10 million of the $42 million they lavished on Suppan 3 ½ years ago, club officials have to be just a bit nervous about this investment.

Simply put, Wolf is producing worse results in nearly every category than in 2009 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, he allowed an average of 7.48 hits per nine innings, 1.01 home runs, 2.35 walks and 6.73 strikeouts.

Through 13 starts this season, Wolf is allowing an average of 10.15 hits per nine innings, 1.73 home runs, 4.5 walks and 5.65 strikeouts.

“This is awful,” said Wolf, never one to sugar-coat a poor performance. “It’s one of those times when you feel like you’ll wake up and it’s a bad dream. But it’s not. It’s reality. I have to deal with it and try to get better.

“I’m making a lot of mistakes out there and I’m not getting away with any of them. I’m better than that. I’ve just got to find a way to get better than that.

“I haven’t pitched well yet in my mind. It’s frustrating because I don’t feel any different than I did last year. The results definitely aren’t there. I’ve got to do something to get better results than I’m getting right now.”

Because Wolf has missed with location so often this season, he has compared video from last year to see if there’s a mechanical glitch to blame. Making it even more frustrating, Wolf hasn’t spotted any glaring flaw in his delivery.

“There’s not a huge difference,” he said. “Obviously, there’s something there and I have to fix it.

“The past few starts, I’ve walked more than I usually walk. I think I kind of fell into the trap of trying to pitch away from contact, which is not a good thing to do.”

As for whether Miller Park is tougher to pitch in than Dodger Stadium and other pitcher-friendly NL West parks, Wolf said, “It doesn’t matter what park you pitch in. I pitched better on the road last year than I did at home.

“It’s just a matter of me making better pitches. The road right now is really shaky. I know I’ll get back to where I need to be but right now it’s not fun.”

About Tom Haudricourt

Tom Haudricourt covers the Brewers and Major League Baseball. He was voted Wisconsin Sports Writer of Year for 2011 and 2012 by National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

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